Programs Major in CS or Physics? Vote [Strawpoll]

[victormarte]

I've been going to school for 6+ years now chasing my bachelors, changing my major constantly. Unfortunately, loans are piling up and I need to support my family ASAP. I'm a physics major now, but I won't be going to grad school for GPA/No patience for it reasons. Anyway, I have two options (listed in the Tldr), both will take a year and a half to complete starting next semester. What should I do?

My background: I mostly enjoy physics, and I don't know if I'll be joyous about computer science since I've never done it, but I feel like I'll probably at least kinda enjoy it because I love figuring out how things work, and math is just so damned fun! Since I won't be doing grad school, a bachelor in physics, in my opinion, isn't very good in industry, I've heard the minor/major in physics pairs very well with other majors though.

Tldr; Should I get a BA in CS, Minor in Math, and Minor in Physics? Or, BS in physics, and Minor in Math?

Feel free to vote: http://www.strawpoll.me/12035453

 

[Choppy]

If your goal is to support your family ASAP, is sticking around to complete an education that you are unsure about really the best course of action? There are a lot of advantages to completing an undergraduate degree, of course, but if you need a poll from random people online to tell you what to major in - are you going to be able to stick with the result? Or are you going to be back here in six months with seven years of school under your belt and a poll between electrical engineering and statistics?

I'm not trying to dissuade you from pursuing an education. It's just the motivation needs to come from inside.

 

[Logical Dog]

No don't make your life based on a poll...people don't know you or what you want.

I would say CS as you need to support your family. but if you don't enjoy programming, theoretical stuff like algorithm and data structures, computer architecture etc then it will be totture.

 

[victormarte]

If your goal is to support your family ASAP, is sticking around to complete an education that you are unsure about really the best course of action? There are a lot of advantages to completing an undergraduate degree, of course, but if you need a poll from random people online to tell you what to major in - are you going to be able to stick with the result? Or are you going to be back here in six months with seven years of school under your belt and a poll between electrical engineering and statistics?

I'm not trying to dissuade you from pursuing an education. It's just the motivation needs to come from inside.

I'm sure I enjoy physics enough and have the motivation to finish it, however, my problem lies at the potential inability to get a decent job at a bachelor level with OK gpa. Reading the posts on these forums and Reddit forums, it's been suggested by one user who put it eloquently that physics [at a bachelor level] should be your passion study, ie, not your primary study due to job prospects, so pursue it after you are finished with your primary one. I am thinking about heeding this advice (finishing my bachelors in physics at a later time) so long as my situation is still tolerable after the CS degree. At the very least, I can probably nail a decent job and take a class or two at a time after my CS degree.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

CS.

Physics is hard, most likely a bad choice for someone who is unsure.

 

[StatGuy2000]

In my personal opinion, if you know you won't be going to grad school, then all else being equal, it may be wiser to pursue a BS in CS (with possible minors in math and physics, if you so choose) than a BS in physics.

However, please note the above bolded words above. Are you absolutely certain at this stage that you don't want to pursue graduate studies?

I would also add (repeating what others have commented on here) that making an important decision such as finishing your university education should not be based on a straw poll from strangers.